


After all this

by orphan_account



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 09:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A one shot of Platonic Expensive Headphones.





	After all this

Rich sat up in bed, scared. It was his first night home after being stuck in the hospital for 5 weeks to heal after halloween. He had had nightmares in the hospital, but none were quite as bad as the one he had tonight. He reached for his phone but hesitated. He could call michael, but michael had been with him all day, helping his mom get him moved back into the house, and he didn't really want to bother him more. He wanted to call someone, but no one else seemed to like him any more, and he didn’t want to make school more miserable than it had to be by annoying anyone who tolerated him before he even got back. Still shaken from his nightmare and deciding that he was going to need help if he was going to calm down enough to fall back asleep, he picked up his phone and called michael.

Michael answered on the second ring.

“Hello”

“Hey Michael!” Rich’s voice wavered

“Woah dude, are you OK?”

Rich took a deep breath

“Mostly, I know it's kind of,” Rich paused, looking for a word other than silly, so that his lisp wasn’t evident, “childish, but I just had a nightmare and was hoping I could talk to you about it?”

“Yeah, of course dude. Wait, do you want me to come over?”

Michael, Rich, and Jeremy all lived in the same neighborhood, and Michael had promised to come over whenever Rich needed once Rich was home. 

“It’s 1 AM, we have school tomorrow!”

“I wasn't sleeping anyway, and if you need help, I don't mind coming over.”

“Thanks you. I'll go ask my mom if it's okay.”

Rich walked down the hall to his mom’s room. He knew she was awake because she was working extra hours from home since his dad left to help pay off the medical bills. His dad had filed for divorce and moved out right after the play, mostly because he didn’t want to pay Rich’s hospital bill. He hired a very good lawyer that he was friends with in college and the whole divorce took less than a month. Leaving Rich’s mom with full custody of Rich and his older brother. Rich knew that she didn’t mind though, while they would all miss the extra income, none of them would miss the drinking, or what happened after he got drunk. So Rich’s mom put in more hours at the publishers, and worked late into the night on editing articles. 

Rich knocked on his mother’s door softly.

“Come in!” she called from inside

He stepped into her room and marveled at how different it looked now that his father was gone. There was a large mirror on one wall and pictures of the three of them around it. The dark curtains and bedspread had been replaced with red versions, and two new lamps were sitting on the bedside tables. Above the bed was a picture of a flower Rich’s aunt had painted several years ago and his mom hadn’t been allowed to put up since Rich’s dad didn’t want “any of the fairy shit” in his room. Over all, the room looked much more warm and welcoming now. 

“Hey, is it cool if Michael comes over?”

His mom looked at him and smiled.

“Now?”

“Yeah.” 

“Okay. As long as you make it to school on time tomorrow.”

“Thanks mom,” He smiled and ducked out of the room. 

Rich texted Michael back and waited by the front door so that he could come in without disturbing his mothers work. He got there about 2 minutes later, carrying his backpack, and looking a little out of breath. 

“Did you run here?”

Michael nodded and laughed

“My friend needed help, what was I supposed to do?”

“You didn’t have to run,” Rich said as he and Michael headed up to his room, “but thanks for the effort.”

Rich sat on his bed and tried not to focus too much on the fact that Michael considered him a friend. Obviously they were friends, michael had visited him at least 5 times a week since the play and texted with him frequently when he wasn’t there, but hearing him say it made rich feel warm inside. His anxiety had been steadily building since he woke up, but now he was able to relax slightly, now that Michael was here. 

“So what was you nightmare about?”

Michael sat on the bed next to Rich, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Um… It was about Halloween, kinda.” Rich took a deep breath before continuing, practicing the grounding techniques they taught him at the hospital, “I had set Jake’s house on fire and sat in Jake's room, like I did in real life. But no one came upstairs to come get me. Everyone knew I was in the house, but no one came back in to get me. They didn’t even know I started the fire, they just wanted me to die. The only reason I escaped was because my squip turned back on. But half my face was badly burned, and when I came back to school everyone told me to kill myself and that they hated me. Including, you, Jake, and Jeremy. I-um don't think I'm explaining it right. It sounds stupid, but it felt real and like, like everyone wanted me dead!”

Rich had tears in his eyes as he finished, and his lisp was uncontrollable, making him feel even more childish. Michael gave him a pitying look. 

“Are you anxious about going back to school tomorrow?” 

Rich nodded, not wanting to risk his lisp coming out again.

“Well then, that's probably why this dream was so bad. Remember what they said in the hospital: you went through something traumatic, your going to have nightmares. But the anxiety is gonna make them worse. So let’s talk about what's making you anxious.”

Rich didn’t respond, unsure of why he was feeling how he was feeling and just wanting comfort. 

“Are you anxious about the squip?”

Rich shook his head. He didn’t get many visits from people other than Michael, but after Jeremy went back to school, he came to tell Rich that no one was upset at them for the squips. Also, Rich hadn’t heard anything from his squip since christine drank the mountain dew red.

“Are you worried people won't like you because you’re a different person after the squip?”

“Yeah”

Rich had voiced his concerns to Michael last week about people not visiting him in the hospital, and that he thought that meant people didn’t like him or found him annoying now.

“Don’t be worried about that. Jake has been asking me for the past week when you were coming back, and he’s really excited for you to come back tomorrow. And people have been decorating your locker non-stop since Halloween. I don’t think you have to worry about anyone hating you.”

They sat silent for a while, rich feeling relieved that people cared that he was gone, but still feeling a little on edge.

“Are you self conscious about the scars?”

Rich nodded. Shocked that Michael had guessed that. Rich really hadn’t even admitted to himself he was worried about the scars and he definitely had never told Michael. 

“Do I seem insecure?”

Before the squip, Rich wasn’t all that anxious. He was just invisible and hated the feeling. Now, Rich wished that he was invisible and didn’t have to be insecure about seeming insecure.

“Not really. It's just that I get it.”

Michael rolled up his sleeves and one leg of his sweatpants. He had very straight lines on his wrists and a couple of burn scars on his leg.

“What happened?”

Rich didn’t really want to keep talking about himself, and he was relieved that there was an opportunity to change the subject.

“You know how I live with foster parents now? Well I lived with my dad for the first couple of years of my life. The office he worked at had a daycare in the building and he would drop me off there, because I wasn't old enough for school yet. One day, a former employee that had been fired broke into the building and set it on fire. Since he started a fire on the lower couple of floors, the only people who had a chance to get out were the people in the daycare, which was on the second floor. So I had third degree burns and got placed in the foster care system.”

“I’m so sorry”

“I don’t actually remember. I only know this because one of the social workers gave me an article on it a couple of years ago. But the point is, I get it. I never wear shorts, because I don't want people seeing my scars.”

“But doesn’t wearing pants make the scars hurt?”

“It did at first, so I wore really soft sweatpants for like two years straight. Which reminds me! I brought you something.”

Michael stood up and opened his backpack pulling out a bag.

“I got you three shirts, a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that are made of some super soft material. I think it’s cotton, I don't really know. And the sweatshirt is reversible, black on one side, yellow on the other. ‘Cuz you said yellow was your favorite color.”

Rich picked up the sweatshirt that Michael held out to him. It was one of the softest things he had touched. All of the clothes he had worn since they took off the full body cast three days ago had scratched at his scars. He was mostly lucky and had avoided scars in very unfortunate places, but he still had a fair number in inconvenient places.

“Thanks Michael, but you shouldn’t waste your money on me.”

“It’s either you or weed, and besides, you needed a sweatshirt. it's gonna be below zero all week and I'm pretty sure you don’t own any coats or sweaters.”

Rich remembered the squip making him throw them all out when he got it at the end of freshman year. It had made him build muscle all summer following that so that he could always show off his arms at school. It was weird to Rich at the time, but apparently pretty effective on girls. Plus the squip had kept his immune system strong and made it so rich didn’t have to worry about the cold. Rich realize how screwed he would have been tomorrow if he didn't have this sweatshirt.

“Thanks again,” Rich said as he stood up to put the clothes away and change into the sweatshirt.

“Yeah, no problem. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, thanks,” 

Rich layed down on the bed

“No problem! I guess I’ll head home now.”

“Michael, are you not the same person who told me that it’s below zero outside”

“Fine, I’ll stay. Where do you want me to sleep?”

Rich scooted over and patted the space next to him on the bed. Michael smiled and layed down next to him. 

Rich felt relaxed for the first time in many months. He felt like he had at least one real friend who liked him for who he really was, and not who the squip made him be. He turned on his side and rested his head on Michael’s chest, listening to his heart beat. He had been unused to a lot of affection until he and Michael had become friends. At first he was kind of confused and felt like he might have a crush on Michael. But he quickly realized he like Michael as a friend and felt very protective over him because of how kind he was. Rich felt Michael wrapped his arm around his shoulder, and he quickly fell asleep.   


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! please leave advice and requests in the comments!


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